In its Main gallery in March, Viewpoint Photographic Art Center presents the photographs of Ann Mitchell in an exhibition titled Meditative Spaces Found While Traversing The Razor’s Edge.

Ann says this body of work is dedicated to exploring the essential characteristics of change. "While my first inspirations were based on my own experiences, I’ve worked to go beyond the specifics through the use of archetypal elements such as water, nature and the occasional human character. At the core of each image is also an exploration of the strong push and pull of longing: whether it’s the longing to find a safe place, or even to feel that we are grounded in some manner. Inspired by a love of surrealist painters, such as Magritte, these images often come to me through meditation, dreams, memories and intuitive explorations. With each image I’m pushing into the feelings that we experience when life changes radically. Fear, happiness, confusion, insight, joy…all of these are on the path we are often forced to take."

The March exhibit in the Step Up Gallery will feature Roger Lieberman's exhibit, Dogpatch and Environs. Dogpatch is an historic neighborhood in eastern San Francisco. It is rather small, stretching from 18th Street to 25th Street and from the Bay to Indiana Street (5 Blocks). The area has been home to the shipbuilding industry and slaughterhouses. Feral dogs obtained their food from the refuse of the slaughterhouses, hence the name Dogpatch.

Today the area is being transformed by new development, but the community has been actively and successfully involved in being certain that the historic buildings retain their intrinsic character. These photographs are my attempt to document these structures before they are lost. My hope is that you will be stimulated to come to the area before it is fully “modernized”.